Lu Han watched Byul wearily as she sauntered over to him. Her royal gown trailed glamorously behind her, drawing the attention of the surrounding men as the rhinestones prickled under the enamoring chandeliers overhead. The fellow Round Table knights gathered around her, hands on the hilts of their swords as their eyes fell upon Lu Han, who had tensed up in a defensive manner. The blonde prisoner king had his jaw clenched with his knuckles wrapped tightly into fists. They throbbed at his sides, stiff and hostile as he stood his ground, refusing to lower his gaze. Byul stepped forward, situating herself in front of all six of her vassals before nodding to Ho Dong's respective bow. She casted her knights a sideways glimpse before turning to directly face Lu Han, who by now was overwhelmed and flooding with contemptuous confusion. A disdainful bafflement hit him  he saw her raise her hand, a finger aiming at the spot in between his eyes.

Of all the stares she felt boring into her back, Byul knew Kai's was the strongest. As he was the most prideful vassal, he was also the one with the greatest sense of nationalism. Lu Han was to be dead within the young subject's eyes. Kai watched carefully, examining his elder with an intimidating gaze as  Byul continued to wave her finger around in mid-air, absently tracing the outlines of Lu Han's visage, neck, and body frame. "This man," she whispered the, gathering the attention of the silent onlookers, "this man needs to be punished." 

Gasps eminated from the ladies' lips as the foreign lords simply smirked, a complacent and smug expression waltzing onto very individual face. Lu Han lifted his eyes with shocked puzzlement, his eyebrows flying to his hairline as his lips dropped slightly. His lips were pink, supple; yet, they were dry from lack of nourishment. The nutrients in his skin had disappeared and there was not an unfamiliar pallor to his color that Byul disliked; he was slim, skinnier than she had ever seen him before, and upon looking at him in this vulnerable state, Byul felt an odd pang of guilt twinge through her pulsating heart.

"For what, my Lady?" Of course, Kai would be the most enthusiastic about this. If it involved Lu Han's death or maiming the young king, Kai would always be the first to volunteer to be involved. Byul wasn't foolish either; she noticed the advances the young vassal made upon her; she noticed the desperate passion lighting up his eyes whenever they initiated a conversation or established eye contact; she noticed his faithful obedience and his unforgettable loyalty; she noticed every single thing Kai had tried to do in order to encapture her attention.

But Kai was not the one she wanted. The one she wanted was -

"Lu Han," she began slowly, voice hoarse with apprehensive fear, "needs to be punished for theft."

Lu Han's hands fell limp, fists unraveling into slender fingers, sore and dangling lifelessly by his thighs. Pain trickled through his glossy orbs as a frown condescended upon his quivering lips. Ho Dong casted Lu Han a sympathetic glance before tearing his gaze away to fearfully face the queen. She was trembling, almost with fear as she lowered her hands back down to her sides; her eyes were monotonous, undecipherable of emotions, as her lips were pursed into a straight line. "King Lu Han.. did you.. steal something from Our Lady?" Kyungsoo mumbled incredulously.

"He stole my heart," Byul snapped outrageously before her men could break out into a raging brawl. Silence ensued, but this time it was thick. Rather than an attentive silence, there was hostility, disbelief, incredulity, and betrayal lingering in the air; Byul could pinpoint and distinguish each and every emotion that radiated around the atmosphere. She especially took note of the glare on the back of her that seemed to have intensified -- Kai's glare. "He took away my pride, my dignity," Byul whispered with brazen eyes, "and he robbed me of my heart."

"So before you waste your time," she announced, bowing her head shamefully; she shifted her eyes away and used her short hair to block the disapproving glares settled upon her. "Before you waste your time, just leave. All of you, and never come back again to speak to me of marriage because I won't have it --"
"You're a traitor!" Kai interjected, growling lowly. He unsheathed his sword and gripped it tightly at his side, feet spread apart readying himself for a duel. "You're a nasty traitor!"

Lu Han shifted his gaze away, unsure of what to do with the cuffs tightening around his hands; unsure of what to do with the current situation. "Don't hurt her," he said, speaking up for the first time since this morning. His voice was croaking, raspy from all the crying he had done. But his eyes were firm, and though his fringe was blocking some parts of his eyes away, Kai could see through the anger, and instantaneously felt the fire that raged through the crevices of Lu Han's enraged pupils. "Don't you dare touch her, she did nothing wrong!"
"She betrayed her country! Her people! Her father!"  Kai's lips quivered shakily as he seethed, drawing in a cold hiss.

Rashly, Kai took hold of Byul's wrist before Chanyeol or Suho could grab onto him to restrain him. Lu Han had to painfully watch as Ho Dong desperately with the cuffs, fumbling to release the restrictions. Kai held his blade dangerously close to Byul's neck, who had drawn in a hot breath, hissing at the coldness of the dagger's steel blade pressing gingerly into . "Kai --"

"You betrayed me," he whispered in a bewildered, rushed huff. "How could you, when you knew all this time?"
"I couldn't, Kai --"
"But you couldn't with His Majesty Lu Han, either!" the younger chorused furiously. He stubbornly shrugged off Sehun and growled into Byul's ear, "You knew. You knew how I felt, and you pushed me away each time; yet I pursued to have you love me in return -- not like an older sister, but like a lover, like how I wanted you to love me. I only wanted your attention, and I wa faithful, loyal, and obedient to you all this time." He simpered, releasing a bitter chuckle. "And this is what I get in return? You leaving me for a rotten nemisis?"

Kai's eyes were flaring, nostrils enlarged from the heavy breaths he was taking in; he had a wild look in his eye that nobody at this point could tame. Lu Han, by then, was released, and had his own defensive stance prompted; his hands were held in front of him, as if to use telekinesis to repel Kai's insanity away from him. "You're not thinking," Lu Han began, "so take some breaths and --"

"Shut up!" Kai cried woefully. Tears cascaded down the youngster's cheeks as he held the katana closer to Byul's neck, "Shut up!"

Byul was instilled with fear, stoic as her heart came crumbling down into her stomach; the acid blew up inside of her, pelting small bubbles of anxiety through the veins of her internal system. "Kai --"

"If I can't have you, Moon Byul, then nobody can."

Blood.

Red.

Crimson.

It was everywhere.

But it wasn't Byul's.